A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.
Overview
After a violent villager beats a visiting hill man’s child in the men’s sleeping house, the father secretly leaves a wooden head-rest there. The aggressor claims it and dies overnight; another sleeper who takes it dies the following night. A watcher sees the decisive third event: the pillow flies up, strikes a child on the head and returns to its place before he can intervene.
The villagers burn the head-rest. It writhes as though alive and groans before becoming ashes, which blow toward the hill man’s village. The ending warns visitors against sleeping there. Although the first two deaths are connected with the object, the watcher observes the third attack specifically. No carved face, limbs or inhabiting spirit is supplied by the text.
Origins & earliest records
Annie Ker, Papuan Fairy Tales (London: Macmillan, 1910), The Enchanted Pillow, pp. 109–111.
Records & interpretation
Ker’s English collected narrative, situated within her northeast-coast mission-era collection.
In the literature
“the pillow fly into the air”
The Enchanted Pillow, printed p.111
A hidden watcher sees the wooden head-rest attack a child.
Selected bibliography
Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.
- 01
Papuan Fairy Tales: The Enchanted Pillow, pp. 109–111
Specific selected collected narrative; unnamed narrator not assigned a modern community identity.
- 02
Papuan Fairy Tales — The Enchanted Pillow
London:Macmillan1910, title page and table of contents inspected in Wikisource scan-backed transcription. Introduction describes northeast-coast collection, mission residence, oral settings, tobacco exchanges and consultation of elders; individual narrators unnamed in these selected chapters.
Family & connections
A source-supported family tree or inspiration record has not yet been compiled for this profile. Related reading below indicates a connection in subject matter, not a proven lineage or creative influence.
Located primary passages
Specific passages supporting details in this entry, grouped by their published witness.
Papuan Fairy Tales: The Enchanted Pillow, pp. 109–111
London:Macmillan1910, title page and table of contents inspected in Wikisource scan-backed transcription. Introduction describes northeast-coast collection, mission residence, oral settings, tobacco exchanges and consultation of elders; individual narrators unnamed in these selected chapters.
- A villager beats a visiting hill-man’s child. The father later secretly leaves a wooden head-rest in the sleeping-house. The aggressor appropriates it and dies while sleeping; another claimant dies the next night.
- A watcher sees the head-rest leap at a visiting child and kill him. Villagers burn the object, which writhes and groans before becoming ashes; the ashes reach the hill-man’s village. The narrator ends with a warning about sleeping there.
The Enchanted Pillow, printed pp.110–111, watch and destruction
The first father and child are the injured visitors, not the later child victim. The object is a wooden head-rest, not automatically a stuffed pillow. Three actual victims, including an unrelated child, remain explicit. No literal claim the object survives the fire intact, or real-world efficacy of the curse.
References
Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.
- Primary collected narrativeKer 1910: The Enchanted PillowResearch access: 2026-10-05
Image credits
A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.